CEGO shirts...

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by sloaney

If you are staying at (and paying for) the Hilton and not the Ritz Carlton, you adjust your expectations down accordingly.

 

[passingtime]

Originally Posted by sibellc

To which he responded:

"I would be happy to remake a shirt for Montmorency if he was interested in doing so. I have remade numerous first shirts in an attempt to satisfy a customer."

I can vouch for that. I am an awkward fit for shirts so there were problems with my first shirt. After a couple of attempts to correct the shirt, and without any request from me, he remade it and nailed the problem. That was back in 2004 and I have regularly reordered.

 

[james48]

I would be interested to know where everybody here found out about cego? There seem to be a LOT of customers of his on this board, i would guess that 99% if not 100% of his customers here found out about him via SF. I have never seen him advertized anywhere, does he? He doesnt really have a store front where people walking by would see, so i would guess most if not all of his business is by "word of mouth" (or word of message board in this case). My point is if the majority, if not all of your business comes via word of mouth, and you are still in business, then people must be reccomending your product to friends/co-workers/etc as a good product. There certanly seems to be a lot of happy customers of his, of course in no business will you have 100% satisfaction for any number of reasons, some might be his fault some might be un-realistic expectations on behalf of the customer. I tend to think that if there was a reasonable complaint from a customer, he would do what he can to make it right, because his reputation with his customers is the basis for his whole business.

 

[vonwotan]

I found Carl in 1986 by word of mouth. Two acquaitances, not know to one another each suggested I contact Carl before I started at First Boston. No matter how many other tailors / shirtmakers I visit, I always return to Carl. I have been quite happy with his shirts and his service. I also have some bench tailored bespoke shirts for special occasions, but at five to six times Carl's prices I don't feel it is a fair comparison.

 

[Panzeraxe II]

Originally Posted by montmorency

Sibelc, Carl's response on a public forum was a lot different than his response to me in his showroom. The shirt was made by one of his sewers, not by the Gambert factory he uses for his lower end shirts. The excuse for the sloppy stitching that Neapolitans make shirts that way on purpose came from him. I remember it well because at that time, I had not heard about Neapolitan sewing techniques.

At the time, I didn't respond to Carl on AAAC because all I wqanted to do was to provide my experience, which doesn't appear to be common. But, now that you have given me his response again, I feel that I should reply.

I second that - Carl's personable pragmatic responses on the forums are unlike many, if not most, of his responses and comments in person.

 

[Tomasso]

 

[Mark Seitelman]

I can recommend Carl.

He has always been personable and honorable. He delivers an honest and reasonably priced shirt. He has always fixed things for me, on his dime, when needed.

Cego and Carl may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, no one gets a rating of 100%, and no one is immune to criticism. Even the mighty Turnbull & Asser and Borrelli have their chorus of critics in the fora.

 

[Rpodos]

Customer for coming up on 20 years. I have had, hmm, 30 Cego shirts? (It'd be more, but I went through a lengthy dotcom phase.)

I've been in NYC the whole time, so my perception is definitely colored by easy access. Given the back-and-forth thus available, my experience has been that Carl will stick with you until everything is tweaked just the way that you want it.

Fabric? Just about anything you want, and certainly access to most of the significant bolts that come through NYC. Price? Amongst the best clothing bargains anywhere.

And, btw, if you have some, uh, iconoclastic requests, Carl will satisfy. Between some of the "gentlemen" that I personally know, and his Broadway clientele, his customer base requires the patience of a saint.

 

[JordanB]

Originally Posted by Panzeraxe II

I second that - Carl's personable pragmatic responses on the forums are unlike many, if not most, of his responses and comments in person.

I find his spelling better in person. Otherwise, I'll have to disagree. He's quite charming and personable.

 

[gehrig]

Originally Posted by sloaney

To defend CEGO a bit, the prices he charges are not high, it is just not viable for him to remake shirts over and over again and continue to stay in business. It is always easier to charge $500 per shirt and then offer superlative service and remake shirts with no questions asked. If you are staying at (and paying for) the Hilton and not the Ritz Carlton, you adjust your expectations down accordingly.

I agree with this, although I'd like to add (Seitelman also mentions this) that in my case CEGO handled the redoing at its own expense. I was somewhat demanding and picky regarding what I sought out of the end product, but I treated Carl civilly. One thing to keep in mind about negative writeups of one on one experiences with merchants is that the customer may not always be a decent human being. It may be especially true in this environment (clothing forum), where image is a huge concern for many of the participants. There will be vain and arrogant people here, and those people may be more likely to disrespect others. I have been in the CEGO room a couple of times when it got busy, and I saw customers act demanding and curt with Carl, and I'm not talking about the substance of their demands, I'm talking about the tone of their voice and their body language. I think that's where the pricing issue and profit margin come into play: the higher the profit on their transactions, the more insolence these merchants will be willing to tolerate.

 

[Panzeraxe II]

Originally Posted by gehrig

I agree with this, although I'd like to add (Seitelman also mentions this) that in my case CEGO handled the redoing at its own expense. I was somewhat demanding and picky regarding what I sought out of the end product, but I treated Carl civilly. One thing to keep in mind about negative writeups of one on one experiences with merchants is that the customer may not always be a decent human being. It may be especially true in this environment (clothing forum), where image is a huge concern for many of the participants. There will be vain and arrogant people here, and those people may be more likely to disrespect others. I have been in the CEGO room a couple of times when it got busy, and I saw customers act demanding and curt with Carl, and I'm not talking about the substance of their demands, I'm talking about the tone of their voice and their body language. I think that's where the pricing issue and profit margin come into play: the higher the profit on their transactions, the more insolence these merchants will be willing to tolerate.

That is an unfair and unsubstantiated comment. You have no proof that any of the members who have posted negative comments on CEGO were anything but polite and civil with Carl.

To imply without any knowledge that the failure lay with the client's attitude is unfair.

I personally am happy that others have had success with Carl. But the original poster deserves a full spectrum of first-hand experiences on which to base his decision, and not just constant glowing reviews of a fellow member's services.

Panzer

 

[gehrig]

Originally Posted by Panzeraxe II

That is an unfair and unsubstantiated comment. You have no proof that any of the members who have posted negative comments on CEGO were anything but polite and civil with Carl.

To imply without any knowledge that the failure lay with the client's attitude is unfair.

I personally am happy that others have had success with Carl. But the original poster deserves a full spectrum of first-hand experiences on which to base his decision, and not just constant glowing reviews of a fellow member's services.

Panzer

I do not know you or any of the other posters in this thread and I am not implying anything regarding any of you specifically. I apologize if it came across that way. I agree with you about the value of sharing negative experiences on the forum, but I stand by my point that negative descriptions of one on one interactions with merchants should be taken with a grain of salt, because from what I have seen (in this shop, even) not every customer treats every merchant with respect.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by gehrig

I do not know you or any of the other posters in this thread and I am not implying anything regarding any of you specifically. I apologize if it came across that way. I agree with you about the value of sharing negative experiences on the forum, but I stand by my point that negative descriptions of one on one interactions with merchants should be taken with a grain of salt, because from what I have seen (in this shop, even) not every customer treats every merchant with respect.

I think this makes sense, but the flip side of the coin is that not every customer knows how to judge what they are getting. Looking back on items I ordered in the past, I can now see errors or problems I didn't see at the time.

I'm not a shirt customer of CEGO, but I will buy boxers only from Carl if I can help it.

 

[Panzeraxe II]

Originally Posted by gehrig

I do not know you or any of the other posters in this thread and I am not implying anything regarding any of you specifically. I apologize if it came across that way. I agree with you about the value of sharing negative experiences on the forum, but I stand by my point that negative descriptions of one on one interactions with merchants should be taken with a grain of salt, because from what I have seen (in this shop, even) not every customer treats every merchant with respect.

Agreed, but by the same token, not every merchant treats all his customers equally and with the same regard. Extrapolating your argument "that negative descriptions of one on one interactions with merchants should be taken with a grain of salt" simply implies that positive experiences of forum favorities such as Carl are the only relevant experiences.

Panzer

 

[gehrig]

Originally Posted by chorse123

I think this makes sense, but the flip side of the coin is that not every customer knows how to judge what they are getting. Looking back on items I ordered in the past, I can now see errors or problems I didn't see at the time.

I'm not a shirt customer of CEGO, but I will buy boxers only from Carl if I can help it.

True, and I don't mean to imply either that I'm an expert on shirts or that CEGO's product should be exalted and beyond reproach. As I mentioned I did have a redo, but it was not so much a demand on my part as the natural result of a conversation with Carl about the fit of the shirt (not that I think customers shouldn't explicitly request changes...). Not every customer is civil, and their experience with a merchant can reflect that. I think it's something that is important to keep in mind when reading these reviews. IMO this is a very different scenario than merely receiving Carlo Franco ties 1-2 years late (or not at all), and should be viewed differently.